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Sydney Police are still investigating why last month ambulance officers were sent racing to an elderly woman's outer western suburb home. It was alleged the elderly woman had had fallen over, hit her head and that there was blood everywhere. The police outrage is as a result of the "Desperate Acts" segment that was running on the Kyle and Jackie O breakfast program.The segment "Desperate Acts" where calls are generally scripted and pre-recorded. After the police became involved, the station did not put the call to air.Most listeners believe the calls are live, which is staggering. Related article here

The Gold Coast Bulletin reports: Former Gold Coast radio personality Suki Mead was due in court to face a drink-driving charge yesterday but changed her mind when she saw the media waiting to photograph her.

Ms Mead, 48, was allegedly caught driving with a blood-alcohol concentration of .214 per cent -- more than four times the legal limit -- while on her way to pick up her children Read the entire article

Radio listeners tune out at a greater rate during long ad breaks, according to new scientific research.

The study by Neuro Insight, a company specialising in brain-imaging technology to monitor marketing effectiveness, has found that clutter on the radio - too many ads - is making listeners mentally disengage.

Scientists studied the brain wave patterns of 60 Nova listeners and 60 listeners to the Today Network, and found they tuned out of Today advertisements at a greater rate.

The study was commissioned by DMG radio - the owner the Nova network, which plays just two ads at a time.

On Nova they found only one per cent of listeners disengaged after the first ad, while on Today 11 per cent of listeners disengaged.

By the end of the ad break on Nova two per cent had mentally tuned out, while up to 27 per cent of Today listeners disengaged by the end of the ad break, typically about six ads.

Disengagement even occurred during typically very popular programs, the study showed.

In the Hamish and Andy drive show on the Today network, at the worst point up to 36 per cent audience engagement was lost in an ad break.

Meanwhile, on the Nova drive program last year, audience engagement actually increased during the ads.

DMG Radio Australia group sales director Keith Thomas said he didn’t want to come across as bashing his rival, but said he believed there’d be revenue implications.

“I believe that consumers are already dealing with the issue of clutter by avoiding those places through flick through technology or recording devices,” Thomas told AAP.

“Ultimately, the consumer will drive media companies towards low clutter solutions, and this will accelerate that sort of thinking.

“And with that there may be a revenue impact.

“But the important thing that media and buying agencies acknowledge is that product is diminishing the effectiveness of advertising.”

Austereo, owner of the Today network, said they did not want to comment at this stage.

Jo Stanley, Fox FM's breakfast co-host, gave birth to a healthy baby girl on Tuesday night. Jo and her husband Darren McFarlane welcomed their first child into the world after Jo had endured a 15 plus hour labour. Bub has been named Willow Charlotte Bailey McFarlane.

NEW voices will cross the sound waves at 2HD in coming weeks following the shock departure of two high-profile broadcasters.

Mike Rabbitt, sport reader for NBN News and host of 2HD's local weekend sport talk show, Saturday Sports Line, has stepped down from his role after an alleged pay dispute with the Sandgate station's owner, Bill Caralis.

Weekday afternoon announcer Pete Davis has also called it quits, handing in his resignation to 2HD's sales and operations manager Guy Ashford on Friday.

It follows the shock departure of four-year 2HD program director Kev Kellaway and the axing of Richard King's weekday Drive program last month. full story

Macquarie Radio Network Ltd, the owner of Sydney radio station 2GB, has posted an 83 per cent decrease in first half profit, but said it expects to continue to outperform the market in terms of its share of advertising revenue - though markets are expected to remain difficult this financial year. More coverage here

For the first time, Commercial Radio Australia has called for expressions of interest for people wanting to speak at its national conference on October 9 at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre. Speakers are being sought to present on issues of relevance to the radio industry - emerging technologies, trends, opportunities and challenges that face the constantly changing media industry in Australia and around the world.

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said the idea to call for expressions of interest for speakers was simply to explore broader ideas and ensure a fresh mix of content for the one day conference

"This is a great opportunity to speak to the Australian radio industry. We will as usual be inviting a number of experts to speak on specific topics and sourcing a keynote speaker, but we wanted to canvass the broader media and business communities to see who might have information, ideas and opinions relevant to the media industry in these interesting and challenging times," Ms Warner said.

A radio broadcaster has been shot dead in the southern Philippines today shortly before he was due to begin his daily talk show, police said.

Ernie Rullen, 58, was waiting for a minibus to take him to work in Ozamiz City on the southern island of Mindanao when two unidentified gunmen on a motor bike shot him at point-blank range.Joy Reyes of Radio DXSY in Ozamiz City told local media that police were investigating the shooting. Full story here

THE precipitous fall in the share price of Fairfax Media is undermining its ability to raise capital from shareholders to help deal with its crippling $2.3 billion debt burden.

Fairfax shares hit record lows this week, driven lower by short selling as hedge funds and traders bet the company would be forced to tap investors for capital.

There is also speculation that Fairfax, due to release its half-year results on Monday, will need to write down the value of assets it bought at the top of the market in recent years, including the former Rural Press and Southern Cross radio assets. read full story

Ernie Sigley has walked away from radio after a 57 year association with the industry. After Sigley retired from his 3AW afternoon program in November 2008 he became a Friday night fill in host with Nightline for a number of weeks. It is believed Sigley stormed out of a heated meeting with 3AW management.

Commercial Radio Australia is starting a series of free digital radio creative workshops in Sydney and Melbourne next month, aiming to demonstrate to clients and advertising agencies the benefits of the digital radio platform.

Developed by Commercial Radio Australia and implemented by creative director of Eardrum Australia, Ralph van Dijk, architect of the recent “Radio Advertising Economically Sound” radio brand campaign, the workshops are part of a continuing series developed by Commercial Radio Australia to help improve the education and training for those involved in radio and ultimately deliver better radio ads.

Chief executive officer, Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said, the free digital workshops supported by the Media Federation of Australia (MFA) would outline the relevance of digital radio in meeting branding and advertising needs and demonstrate how to put effective and innovative digital radio advertising together.

“DAB+ digital radio represents a breakthrough multi-media experience which will facilitate additional advertising information on demand. We want advertisers, sales managers, creative directors and media agencies to understand how the new technology can take radio advertisements to a new level using images and text,” said Ms Warner.

The spectrum efficiency of the digital technology DAB+ Australia is adopting, means broadcasters can add additional radio channels or provide on a small screen, scrolling news, sport and weather text or transmit photographs of a radio host, band or advertiser’s logo.

Draft innovative technical and advertising production specifications released last year by Commercial Radio Australia, for the synchronisation of the “visual” and audio components of digital radio, will be used during the workshops to illustrate how easy and reliable the digital radio production process can be.

“Australia is recognised as a producing great radio ads worldwide, now we want to be pioneers in the creation of innovative DAB+ digital radio advertisements and hope these digital radio workshops will inspire new ideas from advertisers and agencies,” said Ralph van Dijk.

Carol Morris Media Federation Australia executive officer said: “The MFA collectively represents 72% of all media billings placed by Media Agencies in Australia and we see these digital radio workshops as a great opportunity for our members to learn more about the opportunities digital radio offers.”

The half day workshops, open to advertising agencies and radio advertising clients, will initially be held in Sydney on 12 March and 19 May and in Melbourne on the 19 March with other states to follow.

Commercial Radio Australia is accepting expressions of interest now and further information can be found on their website www.commercialradio.com.au.

Free-to-air digital radio services will be switched on in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth in May 2009.

The Metropolitan Survey 1 2009 results that were due to be released next Tuesday February 24 will not be released as scheduled.

The Nielsen Company apologises for this delay which is due to the combination of the additional processing time required with the move to the enhanced collection methodology of single person placement plus the fact that the extreme weather conditions experienced in many states during the survey recruitment process delayed some of the field work.

As a result, the new survey release date for Survey 1 is scheduled for Thursday March 5.

“These factors are unprecedented and should not impact future survey releases during the year” commented Peter Cornelius, Managing Director of Media, The Nielsen Company.

Declan Kelly, 6PR - 96fm General Manager, has joined the new board of Perth Glory after co-owner Brett McKeon quit the soccer club leaving Tony Sage in full control after completing a buyout of his former partner.

For lovers of all things radio have a look at The Radio Vault. The Radio Vault is a New Zealand radio site which in their own words is an online radio heritage preservation project. Our mission is to document New Zealand's radio broadcasting history by collecting past and present radio station memorabilia, combined with information relevant to each station's history.Drop by and check it out

As the fires continue across Victoria radio stations continue to adjust their programming to deliver regular updates. ABC local radio and 3AW are broadcasting around the clock news , info and talk in relation to the bushfires.3AW have dropped their Sports Today program for this week and have extended drive through to 8.00pm.

The fires in Kinglake Victoria have claimed the life of Brian Naylor, former GTV9 newsreader, and his wife Moiree Naylor. Brian Naylor got his start in media via radio having previously worked for 3DB and 3AK. Brian Naylor Wiki

To listen live to regular updates of the extreme conditions in Victoria visit the Melbourne page of 1RADIO, where you can quickly click between both 774 and 3AW live fire updates.TO LISTEN LIVE CLICK HERE

With Melbourne's record temperature of 46.4 and the various fires raging across the state both 3AW and ABC dropped regular programming this afternoon to give full coverage to the events happening across Victoria.

3AW's Neil Mitchell took control of the afternoon program with the station aborting an OB from Yarra Glen which was under possible threat from fires. Mithchell remained on air until 8.00pm before handing the baton to Steve Murphy and Mike Brady.

Although 3AW claimed to be broadcasting across the state some regional stations retained their normal programming, partly due to on going problems with Fairfax Syndication.

ABC 774 and ABC local radio called on 774 morning presenter Jon Faine who continued to provide regular updates into the night from all pockets of the state which were either under threat or ablaze.

CRA: An ad campaign promoting the need to trade through the economic crisis and advertise on radio, will begin next week, as part of the commercial radio industry’s ongoing multi-million dollar brand campaign.

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner says the industry is aware that ad budgets are often cut when overall budgets are tight, so the ads have been developed to counteract that way of thinking.

“The ads highlight that people are still buying things, eating out and going to the movies - and that radio is a cost-effective advertising medium that can be highly targeted with a strong call to action, and so is a good choice in tough economic times,” Ms Warner said.

“Research also shows some good reasons and strategic advantages to continue to advertise in tough economic times: there is less clutter in traditional markets, and success breeds success, so continuing with brand advertising will make a product stand out.”

The ads, on-air nationally from next Monday (Monday February 9), were written by the award winning radio specialist agency, Eardrum. The first stage includes advertiser endorsements – and allows individual stations to feature regular advertisers. The ads also promote a free guide to Economically Sound Advertising, available to download from the Commercial Radio Australia website.

Eardrum Creative Director, Ralph van Dijk, said that the next stages of the campaign will include consumers and industry commentators talking about the economic climate and its effects.

"Our central idea is to use the other advertisers in the break as an endorsement for radio. We introduce or back announce the adjacent ad and highlight the fact that these advertisers are doing the right thing. We then take Mark (That radio Bloke) out on the street to gauge the economic climate for himself. Naturally the campaign focuses on radio, but it promotes advertising through a downturn, in general".

The ads are the latest for the radio industry in its ongoing multi-million dollar radio brand campaign, which was first launched in June 2003. Previous ads have included the world’s funniest man, John Cleese, as well as spots highlighting the effectiveness of combining radio advertising with television as well as targeting niche markets. The most recent campaign highlighted radio’s ability to work with online with research showing that over 80 per cent of people who hear a radio commercial have visited that website as a result.

HOT 100 presenter Steve Brook has been sacked after a pre-recorded grab of him swearing was played over the Australia Day weekend.

But he believes he has been set up.

In the days before his sacking last week, Brook said he was ordered to record more than 50 radio grabs playing down the incident. Northern Territory Broadcasting program director Louise Poole declined to comment because of "policy".Full story

Boxer Danny Green will become a regular contributor to Perth's 94.5 drive program, The Big Couch.From next week, Danny will join Clairsy, McFarlane and Fernandez each and every Wednesday between 4pm & 5pm..

After years on FM radio Jamie Dunn is slowly settling in at Brisbane's 4BC with his new breakfast program. One of his on air partners,Courtney Burns,has had her role with the show modified. More info Courier Mail

Sydney Police are still investigating why last month ambulance officers were sent racing to an elderly woman's outer western suburb home. It was alleged the elderly woman had had fallen over, hit her head and that there was blood everywhere. The police outrage is as a result of the "Desperate Acts" segment that was running on the Kyle and Jackie O breakfast program.The segment "Desperate Acts" where calls are generally scripted and pre-recorded. After the police became involved, the station did not put the call to air.Most listeners believe the calls are live, which is staggering. Related article here

The Gold Coast Bulletin reports: Former Gold Coast radio personality Suki Mead was due in court to face a drink-driving charge yesterday but changed her mind when she saw the media waiting to photograph her.

Ms Mead, 48, was allegedly caught driving with a blood-alcohol concentration of .214 per cent -- more than four times the legal limit -- while on her way to pick up her children Read the entire article

Radio listeners tune out at a greater rate during long ad breaks, according to new scientific research.

The study by Neuro Insight, a company specialising in brain-imaging technology to monitor marketing effectiveness, has found that clutter on the radio - too many ads - is making listeners mentally disengage.

Scientists studied the brain wave patterns of 60 Nova listeners and 60 listeners to the Today Network, and found they tuned out of Today advertisements at a greater rate.

The study was commissioned by DMG radio - the owner the Nova network, which plays just two ads at a time.

On Nova they found only one per cent of listeners disengaged after the first ad, while on Today 11 per cent of listeners disengaged.

By the end of the ad break on Nova two per cent had mentally tuned out, while up to 27 per cent of Today listeners disengaged by the end of the ad break, typically about six ads.

Disengagement even occurred during typically very popular programs, the study showed.

In the Hamish and Andy drive show on the Today network, at the worst point up to 36 per cent audience engagement was lost in an ad break.

Meanwhile, on the Nova drive program last year, audience engagement actually increased during the ads.

DMG Radio Australia group sales director Keith Thomas said he didn’t want to come across as bashing his rival, but said he believed there’d be revenue implications.

“I believe that consumers are already dealing with the issue of clutter by avoiding those places through flick through technology or recording devices,” Thomas told AAP.

“Ultimately, the consumer will drive media companies towards low clutter solutions, and this will accelerate that sort of thinking.

“And with that there may be a revenue impact.

“But the important thing that media and buying agencies acknowledge is that product is diminishing the effectiveness of advertising.”

Austereo, owner of the Today network, said they did not want to comment at this stage.

Jo Stanley, Fox FM's breakfast co-host, gave birth to a healthy baby girl on Tuesday night. Jo and her husband Darren McFarlane welcomed their first child into the world after Jo had endured a 15 plus hour labour. Bub has been named Willow Charlotte Bailey McFarlane.

NEW voices will cross the sound waves at 2HD in coming weeks following the shock departure of two high-profile broadcasters.

Mike Rabbitt, sport reader for NBN News and host of 2HD's local weekend sport talk show, Saturday Sports Line, has stepped down from his role after an alleged pay dispute with the Sandgate station's owner, Bill Caralis.

Weekday afternoon announcer Pete Davis has also called it quits, handing in his resignation to 2HD's sales and operations manager Guy Ashford on Friday.

It follows the shock departure of four-year 2HD program director Kev Kellaway and the axing of Richard King's weekday Drive program last month. full story

Macquarie Radio Network Ltd, the owner of Sydney radio station 2GB, has posted an 83 per cent decrease in first half profit, but said it expects to continue to outperform the market in terms of its share of advertising revenue - though markets are expected to remain difficult this financial year. More coverage here

For the first time, Commercial Radio Australia has called for expressions of interest for people wanting to speak at its national conference on October 9 at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre. Speakers are being sought to present on issues of relevance to the radio industry - emerging technologies, trends, opportunities and challenges that face the constantly changing media industry in Australia and around the world.

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said the idea to call for expressions of interest for speakers was simply to explore broader ideas and ensure a fresh mix of content for the one day conference

"This is a great opportunity to speak to the Australian radio industry. We will as usual be inviting a number of experts to speak on specific topics and sourcing a keynote speaker, but we wanted to canvass the broader media and business communities to see who might have information, ideas and opinions relevant to the media industry in these interesting and challenging times," Ms Warner said.

A radio broadcaster has been shot dead in the southern Philippines today shortly before he was due to begin his daily talk show, police said.

Ernie Rullen, 58, was waiting for a minibus to take him to work in Ozamiz City on the southern island of Mindanao when two unidentified gunmen on a motor bike shot him at point-blank range.Joy Reyes of Radio DXSY in Ozamiz City told local media that police were investigating the shooting. Full story here

THE precipitous fall in the share price of Fairfax Media is undermining its ability to raise capital from shareholders to help deal with its crippling $2.3 billion debt burden.

Fairfax shares hit record lows this week, driven lower by short selling as hedge funds and traders bet the company would be forced to tap investors for capital.

There is also speculation that Fairfax, due to release its half-year results on Monday, will need to write down the value of assets it bought at the top of the market in recent years, including the former Rural Press and Southern Cross radio assets. read full story

Ernie Sigley has walked away from radio after a 57 year association with the industry. After Sigley retired from his 3AW afternoon program in November 2008 he became a Friday night fill in host with Nightline for a number of weeks. It is believed Sigley stormed out of a heated meeting with 3AW management.

Commercial Radio Australia is starting a series of free digital radio creative workshops in Sydney and Melbourne next month, aiming to demonstrate to clients and advertising agencies the benefits of the digital radio platform.

Developed by Commercial Radio Australia and implemented by creative director of Eardrum Australia, Ralph van Dijk, architect of the recent “Radio Advertising Economically Sound” radio brand campaign, the workshops are part of a continuing series developed by Commercial Radio Australia to help improve the education and training for those involved in radio and ultimately deliver better radio ads.

Chief executive officer, Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said, the free digital workshops supported by the Media Federation of Australia (MFA) would outline the relevance of digital radio in meeting branding and advertising needs and demonstrate how to put effective and innovative digital radio advertising together.

“DAB+ digital radio represents a breakthrough multi-media experience which will facilitate additional advertising information on demand. We want advertisers, sales managers, creative directors and media agencies to understand how the new technology can take radio advertisements to a new level using images and text,” said Ms Warner.

The spectrum efficiency of the digital technology DAB+ Australia is adopting, means broadcasters can add additional radio channels or provide on a small screen, scrolling news, sport and weather text or transmit photographs of a radio host, band or advertiser’s logo.

Draft innovative technical and advertising production specifications released last year by Commercial Radio Australia, for the synchronisation of the “visual” and audio components of digital radio, will be used during the workshops to illustrate how easy and reliable the digital radio production process can be.

“Australia is recognised as a producing great radio ads worldwide, now we want to be pioneers in the creation of innovative DAB+ digital radio advertisements and hope these digital radio workshops will inspire new ideas from advertisers and agencies,” said Ralph van Dijk.

Carol Morris Media Federation Australia executive officer said: “The MFA collectively represents 72% of all media billings placed by Media Agencies in Australia and we see these digital radio workshops as a great opportunity for our members to learn more about the opportunities digital radio offers.”

The half day workshops, open to advertising agencies and radio advertising clients, will initially be held in Sydney on 12 March and 19 May and in Melbourne on the 19 March with other states to follow.

Commercial Radio Australia is accepting expressions of interest now and further information can be found on their website www.commercialradio.com.au.

Free-to-air digital radio services will be switched on in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth in May 2009.

The Metropolitan Survey 1 2009 results that were due to be released next Tuesday February 24 will not be released as scheduled.

The Nielsen Company apologises for this delay which is due to the combination of the additional processing time required with the move to the enhanced collection methodology of single person placement plus the fact that the extreme weather conditions experienced in many states during the survey recruitment process delayed some of the field work.

As a result, the new survey release date for Survey 1 is scheduled for Thursday March 5.

“These factors are unprecedented and should not impact future survey releases during the year” commented Peter Cornelius, Managing Director of Media, The Nielsen Company.

Declan Kelly, 6PR - 96fm General Manager, has joined the new board of Perth Glory after co-owner Brett McKeon quit the soccer club leaving Tony Sage in full control after completing a buyout of his former partner.

For lovers of all things radio have a look at The Radio Vault. The Radio Vault is a New Zealand radio site which in their own words is an online radio heritage preservation project. Our mission is to document New Zealand's radio broadcasting history by collecting past and present radio station memorabilia, combined with information relevant to each station's history.Drop by and check it out

As the fires continue across Victoria radio stations continue to adjust their programming to deliver regular updates. ABC local radio and 3AW are broadcasting around the clock news , info and talk in relation to the bushfires.3AW have dropped their Sports Today program for this week and have extended drive through to 8.00pm.

The fires in Kinglake Victoria have claimed the life of Brian Naylor, former GTV9 newsreader, and his wife Moiree Naylor. Brian Naylor got his start in media via radio having previously worked for 3DB and 3AK. Brian Naylor Wiki

To listen live to regular updates of the extreme conditions in Victoria visit the Melbourne page of 1RADIO, where you can quickly click between both 774 and 3AW live fire updates.TO LISTEN LIVE CLICK HERE

With Melbourne's record temperature of 46.4 and the various fires raging across the state both 3AW and ABC dropped regular programming this afternoon to give full coverage to the events happening across Victoria.

3AW's Neil Mitchell took control of the afternoon program with the station aborting an OB from Yarra Glen which was under possible threat from fires. Mithchell remained on air until 8.00pm before handing the baton to Steve Murphy and Mike Brady.

Although 3AW claimed to be broadcasting across the state some regional stations retained their normal programming, partly due to on going problems with Fairfax Syndication.

ABC 774 and ABC local radio called on 774 morning presenter Jon Faine who continued to provide regular updates into the night from all pockets of the state which were either under threat or ablaze.

CRA: An ad campaign promoting the need to trade through the economic crisis and advertise on radio, will begin next week, as part of the commercial radio industry’s ongoing multi-million dollar brand campaign.

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner says the industry is aware that ad budgets are often cut when overall budgets are tight, so the ads have been developed to counteract that way of thinking.

“The ads highlight that people are still buying things, eating out and going to the movies - and that radio is a cost-effective advertising medium that can be highly targeted with a strong call to action, and so is a good choice in tough economic times,” Ms Warner said.

“Research also shows some good reasons and strategic advantages to continue to advertise in tough economic times: there is less clutter in traditional markets, and success breeds success, so continuing with brand advertising will make a product stand out.”

The ads, on-air nationally from next Monday (Monday February 9), were written by the award winning radio specialist agency, Eardrum. The first stage includes advertiser endorsements – and allows individual stations to feature regular advertisers. The ads also promote a free guide to Economically Sound Advertising, available to download from the Commercial Radio Australia website.

Eardrum Creative Director, Ralph van Dijk, said that the next stages of the campaign will include consumers and industry commentators talking about the economic climate and its effects.

"Our central idea is to use the other advertisers in the break as an endorsement for radio. We introduce or back announce the adjacent ad and highlight the fact that these advertisers are doing the right thing. We then take Mark (That radio Bloke) out on the street to gauge the economic climate for himself. Naturally the campaign focuses on radio, but it promotes advertising through a downturn, in general".

The ads are the latest for the radio industry in its ongoing multi-million dollar radio brand campaign, which was first launched in June 2003. Previous ads have included the world’s funniest man, John Cleese, as well as spots highlighting the effectiveness of combining radio advertising with television as well as targeting niche markets. The most recent campaign highlighted radio’s ability to work with online with research showing that over 80 per cent of people who hear a radio commercial have visited that website as a result.

HOT 100 presenter Steve Brook has been sacked after a pre-recorded grab of him swearing was played over the Australia Day weekend.

But he believes he has been set up.

In the days before his sacking last week, Brook said he was ordered to record more than 50 radio grabs playing down the incident. Northern Territory Broadcasting program director Louise Poole declined to comment because of "policy".Full story

Boxer Danny Green will become a regular contributor to Perth's 94.5 drive program, The Big Couch.From next week, Danny will join Clairsy, McFarlane and Fernandez each and every Wednesday between 4pm & 5pm..

After years on FM radio Jamie Dunn is slowly settling in at Brisbane's 4BC with his new breakfast program. One of his on air partners,Courtney Burns,has had her role with the show modified. More info Courier Mail